Page 13 - total-knee-packet

KNEE RANGE OF MOTION

Dr. Eccles does not leave the operating room and complete your surgery until he is completely satisfied that your new
replacement parts can achieve full extension and flexion of your knee.

Most of your improvement after a knee replacement will take time. Working hard to have a good range of motion for
flexibility in your knee is very important. THIS IS ENTIRELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, AND YOUR OVERALL OUTCOME
DEPENDS ON YOU REGAINING MOTION. You have one chance at this. Pain and stiffness may persist for the rest of your
life if this doesn’t happen. You will have discomfort and potentially not feel like you want to do these at first, but more
frequent range of motion and exercising of the new knee leads to less pain as you regain your motion back. Ensure you
do the flexion and extension stretches on the next page every day, every hour you are awake.

Within the first couple weeks, you should be able to get your knee entirely straight, with no space between the back of
your knee and the bed or ground you are lying on. You need to quickly regain your knee bend to 90 degrees, the same
thing as a right angle (much like sitting in a chair normally). Once you achieve these goals, it is essential to push forward
with your stretching and exercises to regain all your flexion. Most patients can achieve up to 120 to 125 degrees of knee
bending. You need to obtain this by your 6-week visit, or there might be a chance that you’ll have to return to the OR and
have Dr. Eccles bend your knee to break through the scar tissue. Make sure you know how much flexibility you have in
your knee. Ask your therapist to measure your motion at each visit. This will help you see if you are making progress over
the weeks.

Knee flexion goals: (make sure you are achieving these)

Within a few days – 90 degrees of flexion
2 weeks – 100 degrees of flexion
4 weeks – 110 degrees of flexion
6 weeks – 120 degrees of flexion

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